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Repeat after me: It ain't over till it's over…

OK, I am going to tell one on myself here. This was Saturday. I ventured down to Ellisville to watch Jones Junior College play Copiah-Lincoln in a battle of unbeatens.

The idea was to do a column on 71-year-old Ray Perkins, whose Jones Bobcats defeated No. 1 ranked Gulf Coast the week before. This is the same Ray Perkins who played for Bear Bryant and Don Shula, coached for Don Coryell, hired Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, succeeded Bear Bryant at Bama and also coached the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Bucs.

Co-Lin led 20-3 early and then 41-22 entering the fourth quarter. With the score 41-22 and Co-Lin having just intercepted a Jones pass, I decided to head back to Jackson and catch as much of the Ole Miss-Alabama game as possible on TV.

Ten minues later, a friend called from Jones. “You ain’t gonna believe this,” he said. “Jones has cut the lead to four points and has the ball.”

I turned around and headed back to Ellisvile. My friend called back and said Jones had taken the lead. I arrived just in time to see Co-Lin score to go back ahead 47-43 with two minutes left.

Then here came Jones, down the field, scoring with just ticks remaining to win it 50-47. Unbelievable.

More on Perkins, a Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer, who is nearing 72 and has no plans for retirement, later in the week.

Here’s a link to Stan Caldwell’s story about the amazing game in The Hattiesburg American. I’ll have more on Perkins, a Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer, nearing 72 with no plans for retirement any time soon, later in the week.

But I will tell you what Perkins whispered to me walking off the field: “If we didn’t lose this one, I don’t know how we can lose. Our guys just refuse to lose.”